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transcendent's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
i didnt realise how much i adore these trashy late 2000s vampire (vampyre in this case) books until i picked this up at the library at work and read 60 odd pages in like 20 minutes.
Zoey Redbird is genuinely one of the best Mary Sues to ever exist because she is simultaneously a girlboss AND a girlfailure and honestly that's so real for being the most overpowered vampyre fledgling ever.
cant wait to start betrayed to get back into the groove of reading!
Zoey Redbird is genuinely one of the best Mary Sues to ever exist because she is simultaneously a girlboss AND a girlfailure and honestly that's so real for being the most overpowered vampyre fledgling ever.
cant wait to start betrayed to get back into the groove of reading!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Blood, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Ableism
hayli's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
prunechips's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
kspag206's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was a series I read in middle school (back in 2011ish) and decided to reread as adult to see if it still held up to my 12 year old expectations of what a fantastic book was. Unfortunately, it did not, at least not fully.
First, the writing style felt inconsistent. I’m not sure if this was due to the two authors or not, but the first 5 chapters were not well written at all. The middle was more captivating.
Second, for a book written in 2007, I have to say the cast of characters is fairly diverse. However it shows that it was written in 2007, and that two white women were very clearly playing on stereotypes of Native American culture, black culture, and gay culture. That being said, to have the cultures represented at all, in positive ways, as lovable characters, is still better than not.
Third, the pace of the story and the character’s moral development and acceptance of her fate/the development of an intense love interest was just felt immature. The whole first book takes place in the course of a week. Without giving away spoilers, there’s so much that happens, it just seems too rushed.
That being said, I loved the friend group, I loved many of the characters, I loved the aspect of fantasy in which normal life is just slightly altered, and I appreciated the different perspective on vampire stories. Worth a read, but also definitely NOT a YA book if you’re under the age of 16
First, the writing style felt inconsistent. I’m not sure if this was due to the two authors or not, but the first 5 chapters were not well written at all. The middle was more captivating.
Second, for a book written in 2007, I have to say the cast of characters is fairly diverse. However it shows that it was written in 2007, and that two white women were very clearly playing on stereotypes of Native American culture, black culture, and gay culture. That being said, to have the cultures represented at all, in positive ways, as lovable characters, is still better than not.
Third, the pace of the story and the character’s moral development and acceptance of her fate/the development of an intense love interest was just felt immature. The whole first book takes place in the course of a week. Without giving away spoilers, there’s so much that happens, it just seems too rushed.
That being said, I loved the friend group, I loved many of the characters, I loved the aspect of fantasy in which normal life is just slightly altered, and I appreciated the different perspective on vampire stories. Worth a read, but also definitely NOT a YA book if you’re under the age of 16
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, and Vomit
joklo's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Attempts at diversity are really just stereotypes and tropes. Very, very cringey humor and a wildly unlikable not-like-other-girls heroine. Wanted to reread the series because I really remember liking them in like junior high and while the plot is interesting, all the snark and cringey asides made this a painful albeit quick read. Multiple uses of r****d as an insult as well as body shaming and slut shaming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
flyintothestorm's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
No recordaba este libro tan desastre absoluto. Vine por el mamarracheo, pero me quedé por cabezonería: no se puede aguantar a Zoey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Blood, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Homophobia
sar_bear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
I don't think I've ever read a book/series this bad. I could not finish the series despite being given most of the books as a gift. The writing in general is just horrible (good news is that it makes others feel so much better about their own writing), and the main character is so unlikeable it feels purposeful. I could talk about the problematic things with the series but I don't think I have enough time in my day to cover everything.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship
nautikal's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Drug use, Fatphobia, and Alcohol
abbyleinbach's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
My friends asked me to read this with them and I will never forgive them
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Alcohol
msradiosilence's review against another edition
I’m 95 pages in, and the last book I DNF’d was Allegiant 9 years ago, but I fucking CANNOT with this book.
First of all, way to whitewash your main “native” character. Very SMeyer of you. How is it that the other POC character (Shaunee, a black woman) is allowed to have ‘mocha’/‘chocolate’ skin but Zoey goes from ‘tanned’ to ‘pale white’ hm? Sounds very…cultural appropriative, no?
For a book that has a gay character and a black character in the main cast, this book was *checks notes* fatphobic, transphobic, racist, and slut shame-y all in the first 8 pages! And it only gets worse!! This is why I fucking DNFed, because there is much better shit out there.
The writing was annoying as fuck, Zoey was super judgmental and annoying as fuck, all the other characters were shallow and annoying as fuck…did I mention how annoyed I was with this book?
I read it back in middle school (and bc of the blow job scene in the beginning was subsequently banned from reading it) but as an adult I’ve been going through a nostalgia period and this was one of the books I wanted to revisit. Honestly, thanks Mom and Dad for sparing me from the rest of this series.
First of all, way to whitewash your main “native” character. Very SMeyer of you. How is it that the other POC character (Shaunee, a black woman) is allowed to have ‘mocha’/‘chocolate’ skin but Zoey goes from ‘tanned’ to ‘pale white’ hm? Sounds very…cultural appropriative, no?
For a book that has a gay character and a black character in the main cast, this book was *checks notes* fatphobic, transphobic, racist, and slut shame-y all in the first 8 pages! And it only gets worse!! This is why I fucking DNFed, because there is much better shit out there.
The writing was annoying as fuck, Zoey was super judgmental and annoying as fuck, all the other characters were shallow and annoying as fuck…did I mention how annoyed I was with this book?
I read it back in middle school (and bc of the blow job scene in the beginning was subsequently banned from reading it) but as an adult I’ve been going through a nostalgia period and this was one of the books I wanted to revisit. Honestly, thanks Mom and Dad for sparing me from the rest of this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism